Any experience or opinions on the “new” 2011s, 4" Fusion XP Pro, 4.25" Alpha Romulus or Kimber’s 4" KDS9C, 5" 2K11 & 3.5" CDS9?
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Have you gone to a range and seen if you could rent one and try it out?
You might be surprised on what you find.
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I’ve been shooting 2011 / 1911DS pistols for 5 years - these are my to-go handguns - range and carry.
4" Fusion XP Pro
Friend of mine bought it 2 months ago. I shot it few times and It wasn’t anything special. On the scale 1-10, I will give it 4. Looks weird and doesn’t feel good in hand. Shoots as it should… you press the trigger and it goes off.
4.25" Alpha Romulus
Zero knowledge about this one
Kimber’s 4" KDS9C
Amazing handgun. Feels like CZ75, meaning - perfect fit into the hand. Shoots very smoothly. Rating - 9.
Kimber 5" 2K11
Cannot say anything about it. I like the design.. but 5" is not what I like.
Kimber 3.5" CDS9
I don’t know why this one is classified as 1911… it’s, by design, not 1911. It has action similar to CZ75.
I personally avoid short barrel in such pistols, these usually have a problem with firing pin dragging the primers.
My recommendations, out of your list :
- Wilson Combat EDX X9 2.0
- Wilson Combat SFX 9
- Staccato C or C2
- Dan Wesson DWX or DWX-C
- JacobGrey HEX - new 2025 product
These above are rated 10 out of 10
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@Jerzees: Thanks for your educated input!
Exactly what I was hoping for; “I stand on the shoulders of Giants…”
Or know really smart guys…
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Thanks!
Staccato C. Is that the sound of my garage door closing?
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@Peter204 ,
The 1911DS / 2011 platform is improving almost each quarter.
Staccato was the baseline, that everybody tries to level.
Right now you can find much better and also much worse products.
You can rely on our opinions.. but these may be very subjective.
I personally value these:
- how grip fits in my hand
- is anything around trigger guard pinching my fingers (this is a tough one - almost every 1911/2011 pistol is doing this, so my criteria here changes to → how easily I can adjust the frame / grip module)
- how reliable is the pistol running my certain tests (mostly the magazine is a problem)
If you are willing to invest $3,5K - I will suggest Wilson Combat products.
Less expensive - Staccato C or C2 - is also great option.. however these days I will definitely go with Dan Wesson DWX / DWX-C which is priced below $2K and, in my opinion, is a nicer shooter.
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I didn’t put the DW line on the list, but should have. As a CZ “style” unit, wouldn’t that make them more like a Hi Power rather than a 1911? Not that it matters.
I alike and appreciate your firearm fit criteria.
Happily, I will be driving to different ranges to test the 1911/2011 after phoning and identifying which range has which pistol as a rental. It should be a fun summer for me!
Dan Wesson DWX is a combination of CZ75 and 1911DS.
Is it more CZ or 1911? It depends how we look at this pistol.
It’s generally 1911DS idea with CZ75 parts in it.
Frame is definitely 1911DS, with exception of magazine release, which can be reversed to other side.
Slide is another combination - it has outside rails over the frame, like 1911 and opposite to CZ idea, barrel is a CZ style (no link, no locking logs) and guide rod is also a CZ.
What makes it (in my opinion) more 1911 than CZ is the action, which is typical 1911, fully compatible with 1911 parts.
Whenever you get a change to shoot DWX, do this and you will see why I value and like it so much. 
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CZ Shadow 2?
nope…
Shadow is still typical CZ platform with every part, when DWX is more 1911 than CZ.
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